Hutton tells Nato allies to 'step up to plate' over Afghanistan

John Hutton, the defence secretary, yesterday delivered an unprecedented attack on the failure of European allies to deploy more forces to Afghanistan and said British troops were fighting there in a mission "fundamental to national security".

In an apparent attempt to prepare the country for further casualties and an expected deployment of up to 3,000 more troops to join the 8,000 already there, Hutton said there needed to be greater public understanding of why British troops were engaged in combat in Afghanistan.

Hutton also accused the European members of Nato of expecting the Americans to do all the heavy lifting in the fight against the Taliban. It was time for them to "step up to the plate".

The government is deeply concerned about growing questioning of the presence in Afghanistan. Privately, officials say they are more likely to get their message across if the emphasis is placed on Britain's interest rather than on improving the lives of Afghans.

Hutton said that stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan directly affected "the safety of British citizens here on our own streets". He did not use the term war on terror - a rallying cry described in yesterday's Guardian, by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, as a mistake that may have caused more harm that good.

Nevertheless, the defence secretary used strong language. For Nato, Afghanistan was a defining issue. He added: "The struggle against terrorists is one of the defining struggles of our time."

Hutton told a Ministry of Defence press conference: "We just don't have enough [forces]. We just don't have enough and we are going to have to do more - all of us - if we are to be successful".

Lieutenant General Peter Wall, the deputy chief of defence staff responsible for operations, warned of the growing threat posed by improvised explosive devices as the Taliban had shown itself to be particularly resilient.

Shortly after he spoke, the MoD announced that a soldier from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and a marine from 45 Commando Royal Marines were killed last night by an explosion north-east of Gereshk in central Helmand province. Twenty British servicemen have been killed since November - in winter months traditionally regarded as quiet in Afghanistan's long history of conflict.

In his broadside against European allies, Hutton said: "It is not honest, credible or, I think, sustainable to say the Americans can do more. That is not an alliance, that is one-way traffic. It is not for us to go on saying the Americans can go on doing all the heavy lifting."

The defence secretary continued his attack at an international conference at Wilton Park, a government venue in Berkshire. "It isn't good enough to always look to the US for political, financial and military cover. This imbalance will not be addressed by parcelling up Nato tasks - the 'hard' military ones for the US and a few others and the 'soft' diplomatic ones for the majority of Europeans.

"Freeloading on the back of US military security is not an option if we wish to be equal partners in this transatlantic alliance. Anyone who wants to benefit from collective security must be prepared to share the ultimate price."

Hutton said his remarks would not surprise Britain's European partners as they had heard them privately before. He made clear he was going public because the Europeans had not responded.

The government is concerned that it will be more difficult to persuade parliament and UK public opinion to deploy extra forces to Afghanistan unless countries such as France and Germany contribute more. The US plans to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan - nearly doubling its existing force. Britain will come under pressure from the new Obama administration to send more - pressure, Whitehall officials say, which will be hard to resist.